Police: 5 dead, 8 injured in shooting at Florida airportFORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.— A lone shooter opened fire at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, international airport Friday, killing five people and injuring eight before he was taken into custody, officials said. The airport suspended operations as law enforcement authorities rushed to the scene and emergency medical workers treated at least one bleeding victim on the tarmac. Authorities have not yet released a motive for the shooting inside Terminal 2, ...

AP FACT CHECK: No evidence to back claim of VapoRub deathA viral Facebook post claims a 2-year-old boy died after his mother applied Vicks VapoRub to his skin, but the manufacturer and authorities in U.S. and Mexico say they have no record of such a death. Posts shared by several websites including smag31.com and naij.com in the past two months reference a Mexican mother who applied the ointment to her sick toddler son's body, including under his nose in order to help him breathe. The post says he l...

Electoral College makes it official: Trump wins presidencyWASHINGTON — It's official: Congress has tallied the Electoral College votes and Donald Trump has been elected president. Mike Pence was elected vice president. Democrats raised plenty of objections as the votes were counted Friday in a joint session of Congress. But they didn't have the votes to sustain them. All 538 electors met in their respective state capitals in December to cast their votes. Friday's vote count, led by Vice President Joe...

Pot luck: Advocates to hand out joints at Trump inaugurationWASHINGTON— A group of marijuana legalization advocates plan to hand out thousands of joints during President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. Pro-marijuana organization DCMJ will begin distributing the 4,200 joints at 8 a.m. on Jan. 20 on the west side of Dupont Circle. The participants will then walk to the National Mall. At four minutes and 20 seconds into Trump's speech, DCMJ founder Adam Eidinger says protesters will light up. He says t...

Who hacked? Trump challenges intel agencies he'll overseeWASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday escalated his blunt public challenge to the U.S. intelligence agencies he will soon oversee, appearing to embrace WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's contention that Russia did not provide his group with the hacked Democratic emails that roiled the 2016 election. Trump's defiance has increased the pressure on intelligence officials to provide decisive evidence of Russian election inter...

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By JULIE PACE and EILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated PressAssociated Press

Pot luck: Advocates to hand out joints at Trump inaugurationWASHINGTON — A group of marijuana legalization advocates plan to hand out thousands of joints during President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. Pro-marijuana organization DCMJ will begin distributing the 4,200 joints at 8 a.m. on Jan. 20 on the west side of Dupont Circle. The participants will then walk to the National Mall. At four minutes and 20 seconds into Trump's speech, DCMJ founder Adam Eidinger says protesters will light up. He says ...

College in Canada? After Trump's win, more in US consider itFor some college-bound students distressed by the election of Donald Trump, Canada is calling. Colleges from Quebec to British Columbia say applications and website traffic from the United States have been surging since Trump's victory Nov. 8. Although many Canadian schools had also ramped up recruiting in the U.S. recently, some say dismay over the presidential election has fueled a spike in interest beyond their expectations. Lara Godoff, a ...

Analysis: Health care battle could decide balance of powerWASHINGTON — The messaging battle is on over repealing and replacing President Barack Obama's health care law, and the balance of power in Washington may be at stake. Democrats believe they already lost the public opinion fight over the law once, when they pushed through the Affordable Care Act in the first place, and Republicans grabbed hold of the issue to drive Democrats into the minority. Democrats are determined that this time, they'll co...

New advice: Peanuts in baby's diet can prevent scary allergyWASHINGTON — New parents, get ready to feed your babies peanut-containing foods — starting young lowers their chances of becoming allergic. The National Institutes of Health issued new guidelines Thursday saying most babies should regularly eat those foods starting around 6 months of age, some as early as 4 months. It's a major shift in dietary advice for a country fearful of one of the most dangerous food allergies. "We're on the cusp of hope...

Trump's deportation vow spurs California farmers into actionFRESNO, Calif.— Days after Donald Trump won the White House vowing to deport millions of people in the country illegally and fortify the Mexican border, California farmer Kevin Herman ordered nearly $600,000 in new equipment, cutting the number of workers he'll need starting with the next harvest. Herman, who grows figs, persimmons and almonds in the nation's most productive farming state, said Trump's comments pushed him to make the purchase,...

Mortgage rates, home sales and prices seen rising in 2017Nate Lowenstein has been shopping for a home in Los Angeles, on and off, for more than a year. His search has been stymied by a stubbornly low roster of homes on the market and the hurdles that come with it: multiple competing bids and higher prices. "It's not a great market, from a buyer's perspective," said Lowenstein, a lawyer. "The one good thing is that interest rates were quite low." As recently as this summer, homebuyers had ultra-low m...

The Latest: White House calls Chicago beating an 'outrage'CHICAGO — The Latest on the beating of a white man in Chicago that was broadcast live on Facebook (all times local): 1:50 p.m. White House press secretary Josh Earnest says the beating of a mentally disabled man that was broadcast live on Facebook demonstrates "a level of depravity that is an outrage to a lot of Americans." Earnest says he has not yet spoken to President Barack Obama about the incident in the president's hometown of Chicago bu...

Volunteers get bit to test new strategy for malaria vaccineWASHINGTON— Researchers infected lab mosquitoes with genetically weakened malaria parasites, and then recruited volunteers willing to be bitten — a lot — to test a possible new strategy for a vaccine. The idea: Vaccinate using living malaria parasites that are too weak to make people sick. It's a huge challenge, and while Wednesday's study is a small step, it illustrates the urgent quest for a powerful malaria vaccine. Mosquito-borne malaria i...

Coast Guard: Fire extinguished on platform in Gulf of MexicoA pre-dawn fire has been extinguished on an oil production platform in the Gulf of Mexico, and there is no sign of pollution in the area, authorities said Thursday. The blaze was reported about 2:30 a.m. Thursday on the platform about 80 miles south of Grand Isle, Louisiana, and was extinguished nearly four hours later, the Coast Guard said in a statement. There were no reports of injuries. Four workers aboard the platform evacuated into the w...

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By JEFF MARTIN and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated PressAssociated Press

Hate-crime charges filed in attack on mentally disabled manCHICAGO (AP) — Four black people were charged with hate crimes Thursday in connection with a video broadcast live on Facebook that showed a mentally disabled white man being beaten and taunted, threatened with a knife and forced to drink from a toilet. The assault went on for up to two days, until Chicago police found the victim "in distress" walking along a street, authorities said. The suspects, who are in custody, can be heard on the video ...

Trump considering plans to restructure intelligence agencyWASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump is considering plans to restructure and slim down a top U.S. intelligence agency, a person familiar with the discussions said Thursday. The move comes after Trump questioned the intelligence community's assessment that Russia interfered with the presidential election on his behalf. Trump still is expected to name a Director of National Intelligence, but he is said to be looking at ways to reorganize th...

10 Things to Know for TodayYour daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. US INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS TO TESTIFY ON HACKING The congressional hearing comes a day before Trump is to be briefed by the heads of the CIA, FBI and Director of National Intelligence on the investigation into Russia's alleged efforts. 2. ANALYSIS: HEALTH CARE BATTLE COULD DECIDE BALANCE OF POWER If Democrats get their way, the GOP will ow...

Elvis' home-away-from-home could be razed for car washNASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — As a teenager growing up in the 1950s, Steve North would look for the pink Cadillac outside a stone house on the outskirts of Nashville. If the car was there, Elvis was in the building. Decades later, North bought the property and practiced law at the unassuming former home of Col. Tom Parker, the rough-around-the-edges manager who helped steer Elvis Presley to stardom. Elvis' old home-away-from-home is now on the brink...

The Latest: Victim's daughter: Emanuel still my church homeCHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — The Latest on the federal sentencing trial of convicted Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof (all times local): 10:30 a.m. The daughter of a woman slain in the June 2015 attack at Emanuel AME Church says she doesn't let the shooting stop her from attending the place of worship she loves. Denise Quarles' voice broke as she testified Thursday about how her mother, Myra Thompson, died welcoming a stranger into Bible study...

Analysis: Health care battle could decide balance of powerWASHINGTON (AP) — The messaging battle is on over repealing and replacing President Barack Obama's health care law, and the balance of power in Washington may be at stake. Democrats believe they already lost the public opinion fight over the law once, when they pushed through the Affordable Care Act in the first place, and Republicans grabbed hold of the issue to drive Democrats into the minority. Democrats are determined that this time, they'...